As Bloomberg weighs White House run, Iowa voters ask, ‘Who?’

Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg is seriously considering launching an independent presidential campaign and could make a decision sometime in March, two sources familiar with the matter told CNN.

There has been no official word from the former mayor, but the report said his advisers believed that it was still possible for him to enter the race in the coming weeks qualify to appear as an independent candidate on the ballot in all 50 states.

According to the report, Bloomberg, 73, has taken concrete steps towards a run, including hiring a consultant, having his aides compile detailed research on past third-party bids, and commissioning polls to gauge potential support against Republican and Democratic front-runners Donald Trump and Hilary Clinton. If Bloomberg splits the vote between either one in the general election it could spell doom for the Democratic Party’s chances for 12 more years in the White House as surely as Ross Perot defeated Mr. Bush in 1992.

An independent candidate has never won the presidency, though they have shaped elections for their rivals. The reasoning behind Michael Bloomberg’s sudden desire to become president is a little unclear. The Times reported the goal of the campaign is show him to voters as a “technocratic problem-solver and self-made businessman who understands the economy, and who built a bipartisan administration in NY”. Bloomberg is appalled by the rise of fellow NYC billionaire and Republican frontrunner Donald Trump’s racist rhetoric, the “stumbles” of Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton and the rise of the openly socialist Vermont Sen. A second round of polling was expected after February 9’s New Hampshire primary.

This isn’t the first time the former mayor and media mogul has flirted with a presidential bid, but the unique dynamics of the 2016 race make it more likely than ever he could actually pull the trigger this time.

This is not the first time that Bloomberg has explored the possibility, and he may well decide that a race is not feasible. An online poll conducted this month by Morning Consult found that Bloomberg’s entrance could hurt Clinton more than Trump, in a hypothetical three-way race.

“As a lifelong Democrat, as a former party chairman, it would be very hard for me to do that”, Rendell told the Times.

But 35 percent of all Americans view themselves as moderate, a potential gold mine for Bloomberg to draw on, especially if Democrats nominate uber liberal Sen. Sources say Bloomberg would likely run if it ends up being Trump or Cruz against Sanders.